You know what? And I said this before the game – You just can’t, unless you’re around him and saw what we had to go through (his) first year, as far as making the decision to keep him here. We knew that if he stayed here, we could get a lot of the bad things out of his game and make the process quicker for him. If we had sent him back to Junior, he would have gotten a bunch of points, probably would’ve won the Memorial Cup with the team that won it. (He) Would’ve gone to World Juniors, but at the end of the day, right now, he could be the player we saw last year instead of being the player he is now. That’s two summers of quality off-ice training, it’s the understanding of after he makes a play, he’s got somewhere to go. He’s just so much stronger on the puck now that things are happening more for him because of the fact that he’s just older. And had he played another year against kids, it’s not going to help him as far as speeding up the process of being NHL-ready.

This thought process applies to Luke Schenn. As Brett Lebda slots into the line-up tonight the focus is on the strength of Toronto's top four. Schenn leads the Leafs in even-strength ice-time, hits, and plus/minus. He's doing so against soft competition thus far but after a sophomore campaign that was marked by its rough start. The tendonitis in his knee and rumoured vision problems have given way to a player that is much more confident with the puck and that continues to develop his shot.

So what are the chances that the Leafs can push their record to 5-0-0? Well, the Islanders have been a regular victim of the Maple Leafs at home since the lockout. During that period the Buds have racked up a 7-1-2 with 43 GF and 29 GA. If the Leafs can win tonight they'll have as many wins as they did on November 25th and they'll continue to bank points for the inevitable January/February dry patch. Or maybe this time they won't hit it. Either way, it's fun right now to be a Leafs fan again.

I think tonights game is going to come down to how many penalties are taken... and how well the veteran tendies do against the young guns.

I know I'm making obvious statements, but both of these teams look decent on the special teams, but I see another Leafs win in the horizon. I haven't gotten tired of saying "The Undefeated Maple Leafs" yet.

Tonight's game will definitely be a test for the Leafs. They've done a great job drawing penalties but this NYI PP is rolling right now.

It also gives Tavares an easy chance at creating offence which needs to be avoided.

Well played sir, well played. I'm sorry to the Leafs Nation that my native Red Wings didn't resign Brett Lebda... but we grew tired of him. Good game, and the Leafs got to walk away with a charity point.